Entertainment

How a Tweet Lead to a Phone Call From Shaq

As we reported yesterday, Shaquille O’Neal is on Twitter, and it’s definitely the real Shaq. But two days ago as a few people started discovering The Big Aristotle’s account, not everyone was convinced.

Bryant Blount (aka lord_b) was one of the doubters after first hearing about @THE_REAL_SHAQ on a sports website. The back and forth between the two ultimately lead to an unforgettable phone call for a sports fan, and perhaps proves once and for all that Shaq is the coolest star athlete on the planet.

After first hearing about Shaq’s presence on Twitter, Blount decided to follow him. A few hours later, much to Blount’s surprise, Shaq followed him back. Skeptical, Blount tweeted “shaq has requested to follow me...boy is he gonna be disappointed.”

A bit later, he added “still 30% skeptical about shaq tweeting...will continue to investigate and report back with any new findings.” Low and behold, Shaq responded at 1am (the guy doesn’t appear to sleep based on his tweets), “LORD B, DNT B SKEPTICAL, ITS ME GIMME A NUMBER I WILL CALL U.”

The Call

Since Blount’s Twitter account is private, he decided to go ahead and post his phone number. Blount explained to me what happened the next day at work. “I was just doing some stuff at work and tweeted ‘waiting for the big Aristotle to enlighten me’. Then a blocked number came up on my phone and I answered. It definitely sounded like Shaq,” he told me. A bit starstruck, the two chatted for “3 or 4 minutes” about Twitter, the "fake" Shaq, and Blount’s hometown – New Haven, CT – where Shaq apparently used to play basketball with some people.

Is Shaq Really That Cool?

After the conversation, Shaq tweeted “I just talk to my good friend lord b, hes cool, im a invite him to a game , him and his family.” Of course, all of this was simply amazing to Blount, who tweeted, “@THE_REAL_SHAQ Big ups to shaq for making my life with that call. you can see why the big fella needs so many nicknames—he's mad cool.”

Expanding beyond 140 characters, Blount told me “I just thought it was amazing that Shaq was tweeting and really direct. A lot of [athletes] have blogs, MySpace, and Facebook, but Shaq on Twitter is pretty crazy because a lot of people are hearing him. I was never a huge Shaq fan, but one of the things he said was ‘I’m a regular guy just like you.’ I think he’s a great guy and a great person, you can just tell.”

What’s Next For Shaq on Twitter?

Kathleen Hessert, who manages Shaq’s online marketing, commented on our post yesterday: “Shaq is a joyful person and a riot to be around. He not only gets attention but actually attracts people - he’s magnetic and genuine. That’s why I recommended that he twitter. Frankly it suits him and he’s one of a select few who actually do care about his fans. He’s learning twitter on the run and tomorrow I’m showing him how to respond@ to a fan.”

Sure enough, today saw Shaq make his first reply to a follower. The big man is clearly enjoying himself on the service, and while it might be more of a testament to his personality than the virtues of Twitter, it’s remarkable to watch.

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